


The Darkness

by smiley_517



Series: Superarrow [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-09-18 17:10:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9395015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smiley_517/pseuds/smiley_517
Summary: Part 2 of the Superarrow series3 months after the invasion of the dominator the flash needs the green arrow and supergirl to help fight a meta human. Can the the girl of steel and the emerald archer work together, or will contrasting beliefs stand in the way?





	1. Help

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to create a new villain rather than use the current ones the heroes are fighting on their shows. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy:)

"He does what?"

"He shoots bullets out of his hands. No gun involved."

Oliver shakes his head. "Can't you catch the bullets? Or run fast enough to avoid them? Why do you need my help Barry?"

Barry glances at Cisco, asking him to explain.

"Gunner can shoot multiple bullets out of his hands pretty fast, but not as fast as Barry or Wally. But the bullets are some how laced with explosives, so if Barry catches the bullets, or even runs away to avoid them... kaboom."

"How the hell can this guy produce explosive ammo?" Diggle asks harshly.

"We believe the he was either holding or making a gun when the particle accelerator exploded, however it is possible that he had bullets inside him at the time as well," Caitlyn replied.

"But how can he make the bullets go ya know, kaboom?" Felicity asks.

"Well gunner, we really need a new name by the way, is probably working with a scientist of some sort. If this man can produce bullets, it's possible that a scientist inserted some sort of drug or composition altering chemical into him that causes the bullets to become explosives," Barry answers looking grim. "That's just a theory. This meta is really beyond explanation.

"So what can I do. I don't have powers." Oliver says a little crueler then he intended.

"Well, we need you to be our strategist. She tends to get overly excited and jump into a situation without a plan." Barry replies, a small smile forming on his lips. 

"No. No way." Oliver says. The rest of the room seems to be confused at the exchange between the two heroes.

"Come on, we need her."

"Barry, remember just a few months ago, we were sitting at a bar and you said, what kind of heroes would we be if we called for help..."

The Scarlet Speedsters smile was growing much bigger now. "I know what I said, but we need her. Besides, she's my friend and it's always fun to team up with her. C'mon Ollie, if I remember correctly you were..." 

Oliver cuts him off with a signature Green Arrow glare.

Felicity finally speaks up for the rest of the room. "What the heck is happening? Who is this 'her' you keep referring to?"

Barry just grins and says, "Cisco, call Supergirl. Central City needs the Girl of Steel."


	2. Odd Man Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara is on Earth-1! And of course what she wants is food...

Cisco walks into the cortex. "Just talked to Kara. She said she will be here as soon as possible, she just has to take care of some stuff in National City."

"Great," Barry replies. "I can wait here for her. I know it's late and you all probably want to head home."

"Don't have to tell me twice. But call when she gets here. I'm so excited to see her I mean she is so cool. And she can fly..." Felicity continues to ramble as she, Dig, Cisco, and Caitlyn leave Oliver and Barry.

"I'll stay here with you,"Oliver says after receiving a questioning look from Barry. "We can start coming up with that strategy."

"Right well, there is no way this guy is working alone. And we caught him trying to rob a bank, but it didn't seem like he was going for the money. According to the security footage, he was about to attack a man before I showed up, and as soon as he saw me, he split. No one was injured. Gunner just used his ammo as a distraction."

"Did you get a look at the man he was aiming for."

"No, the footage was blurry."

"We should..." 

Suddenly, Oliver is cut off by a breech popping up right in front of the two men. 

"Kara!"

Before Oliver could even process what was happening, Barry and Kara were embracing in a big hug.

"Barry, Oliver, it's so good to see you guys!"

"Hi Kara, how are you?" Oliver asks, sounding a little stoic. 

Kara walks over to him and gives him a small, quick hug, before replying,"I'm good! I was so worried when Cisco called, what do you need help with?"

Barry explains the situation.

"Is everyone ok, were you hurt?"she interrupts.

"Everyone was fine. That's the weirdest part about it. He didn't try to hurt anyone, not even me."

The blonde looks troubled for a minute, then breaks into one of her big, infectious grins. "Hey, I just travelled from another universe and I'm starving! Maybe we can talk about this over some dinner?

"You're always hungry,"Barry complains. "But I guess I don't have room to judge. What do you say Ollie, wanna tag along?"

"Sure why not," he responds with a small smile.

"Woah! Did Oliver Queen just smile? I am on the right earth right?" Kara asks with a glint in her eye.

As Barry breaks into laughter, Oliver says, "You know, I do have a sense of humor. And I do occasionally laugh."

"Good to know," she replies mischievously.

......................

"Oh my goodness gracious!" Kara exclaims through a mouthful of greasy food. "You were right. Big Belly Burger has the best food in the galaxy!"

"It's also the only place open at 3 a.m." Barry replies quickly swiping a fry from her plate.

"Hey!"

"I paid for it, its only fair I get one fry."

"Ugh fine," Kara says before taking a huge bite of a cheeseburger.

"Besides, I thought you said that potstickers were the best food in the galaxy," Barry says before trying to steal another fry, only to have his hand slapped away. "Ow!"

"What? You heal fast right?"

As Barry holds his hand in pain, Oliver just sits observing the scene a little awkwardly. Kara and Barry are thick as thieves, and it's obvious that he is the odd man out. 

"Look, we can talk tomorrow it's late and..."

"Hey no don't leave! I can be serious! Let's talk some strategy!" 

The fact that Kara said that with a big goofy smile left Oliver not feeling totally convinced. None the less he said, "Alright. We know that Gunner has a bigger agenda, and he isn't working alone. I would say our best bet is to figure out who that man was that he was targeting and why. I'll ask Felicity to go through the security footage again and see what she can come up with. In the mean time we need to locate this meta."

"I can fly over the city now and see what I can find!"

"No Kara wait!"

But before Oliver could finish the sentence she was gone. Barry just shrugged, but Oliver noticed he was trying hard not to laugh. 

"Something to say Barry?"

But before he could respond, they heard police sirens.

"They're coming from downtown." 

"Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry chapters 1 and 2 don't have much action. I promise there's more to come! I hope you enjoyed:)


	3. Who's the Villain?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Oliver butt heads while the team tries to learn more about Gunner.

When Oliver arrives in downtown Central City, he finds complete chaos. Gunner is standing in the middle of street staring up at an apartment complex. He must have shot out another bullet to scare the people in the area, who are now running in every direction screaming. Oliver tries to see if he can spot Barry, but the smoke hasn't cleared from the explosion. He decides to approach Gunner, hoping Barry can back him up. "Kara can help too," he thinks to himself, then quickly shakes the thought from his head. 

"Stand down!" Oliver growls with his bow raised.

"The green arrow! I had a feeling I would be seeing you. But this isn't your fight, you can't beat me." 

He aims at Oliver, turns his hand, and fires. Before the bullet can reach him, a flash of red lightning takes him out of the way. The bullet causes a car to explode. 

"Ahh, the Flash. I'm not surprised to see you either but sadly, you also cannot defeat me. But don't worry, I don't intend on injuring any civilians, unless they get in the way. I'm here only for one man, who I'm sure is up in that building, under his bed, cowering like a fool." He suddenly blasts the side of the apartment.

"Barry!"

"Got it."

Barry runs into the building and tries to get all the citizens out. But Gunner shoots into the building again, and it collapses. Oliver shoots arrow after arrow but the meta is quick. When one arrow hits him in the leg, he grimaces in pain. Oliver takes that chance to run at him but with a mere flick of his wrist, Gunner has a bullet heading straight towards Oliver's shoulder.

"Argh!" Oliver stumbles. The bullet nicks his shoulder, and he hears the explosion behind him.

Gunner walks toward him. "Sorry, but you got in my way, and the boss gave me direct orders."

Before Oliver can even try to fight back, a small figure with a red cape steps in front of him. Kara doesn't even react when Gunner shoots bullet after bullet at her. She grabs his wrists and throws him to the side. 

"You're...you're..." The meta says, lying on the ground.

Kara delivers the blow that knocks him unconscious before replying, "I'm Supergirl."

She quickly glances at Oliver to make sure he's ok, then flys up to the building where Barry is trapped under a large piece of concrete. Kara lifts it off him as easily as most people lift a pencil and flies him down to Oliver.

"Take him. I will get the civilians to the hospital and then fly to S.T.A.R labs with Gunner."  
Before Oliver could reply, she was gone.

 

...................................

 

Barry was still unconscious when Kara walked into the cortex. Caitlyn was running some more tests, but she had told Oliver that he would be fine. Meanwhile, Cisco was finding out everyone who lived in that apartment building to discover Gunner's possible target. 

"Gunner is locked up in the... prison? Is that what you call it?"

"Not really but you can call it whatever you want. That was awesome! Not only did the bullets not affect you, they didn't explode. Your body literally absorbed a bomb!" Cisco said excitedly.

The girl of steel laughs, transforming her from complete badass to lovable Kara. 

"Kara can I talk to you?" Oliver asks. He had been sitting silently in the corner, observing.

"Oh gosh. I'm about to get a lecture aren't I?"

Cisco nods than mouths to her, good luck!

Kara winks in response.

The two heroes walk into the hallway. Oliver just stares at her for a second before saying,"You can't just leave like that."

"Well I..."

"We need to formulate a plan. You can't just jump into situations!"

"I was just flying over the city!"

"What if Gunner had seen you? Or what if you had found him, would you have just flown in and knocked him unconscious?"

"Umm, yea. That's exactly what I would have done." Kara replies, not backing down. "His ammo, last time I checked, doesn't affect me. He can't hurt me."

"What about civilians? Like the ones who were hospitalized because you weren't there tonight!"

"I know I wasn't there! And I feel bad for those who were injured. But I have to live with that! I don't need you judging me or my choices. I am here to help. You need to decide if you want me here."

Kara storms off. Oliver watches her walk down the hallway before reentering the cortex to find Barry awake. He, Cisco and Caitlyn were standing very close to the opening, and now were looking a little too innocent. 

"Cisco, what do you have on the target?"

"According to the apartment complex records, there are 23 tenants in the building and 2 vacant apartments. I got nothing on the tenants, most are families and none of them have any sort of criminal background. That doesn't really eliminate them but I would guess that gunner's target was hiding out in one of the vacant units. I'm going through the security footage to see who entered the building, but so far no one has looked suspicious."

Oliver considers this for a minute then asks, "What do you have on Gunner?"

"His names is Quinn Maserlo. He worked in a factory that produced weapons until it was shut down in 2011."

"But that's a couple years before the particle accelerator explosion," Barry says. 

Cisco nods. "He was arrested a year later for producing weapons illegally, but not convicted. Maserlo could still have been making a gun when the explosion happened."

"He mentioned a boss. I will talk to him and find out who that is." Oliver says.

"Alright, I'll come with you."

"No. Barry, I got this."

Barry is a great hero, but he isn't willing to go to extreme lengths to get answers. And Oliver has a feeling he will have to go pretty far to get anything out of this guy. 

.......................

Oliver walks toward Maserlo, who is now awake but looking like he's in pain. 

"Who do you work for?"

"I'm not afraid of you"

"Who do you work for?"

"You know, us criminals used to be afraid of you. But I could end you in a second. It's a new world, and the name the Green Arrow doesn't invoke fear like it used to."

"I know about 150 different ways to torture the information out of you. "

"But you won't. Because if I step out of this cell, I will have my powers."

Oliver tries to keep his face expressionless. "Who do you work for?" He growls.

"Someone you should all fear. Especially your little blonde cheerleader." He looks up at the ceiling "I love you Samantha." He grabs a small pill out of his pocket and pops it in his mouth.

"No!" Oliver says but he is too late. Maserlo collapses on the floor, dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed:)


	4. The Distraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the death of their only source of information, the heroes are desperate to find out who they are up against.

"Where have you been?" Barry asks as Kara walks into the cortex.

"Sorry I just needed to clear my head. What happened? Is everything alright?"

"No! Maserlo, he killed himself!"

"What? Oh my goodness. He's dead? That's horrible! How did he kill  
himself? I thought the cell stifled his powers!"

Oliver approaches her slowly and says, "He had a pill in his pocket. Meaning you didn't search him. And now he's dead."

Oliver isn't sure what he was expecting, but he certainly wasn't expecting Kara to step back from him, like she was scared. But then he sees the single tear falling from her bright blue eyes. Somehow thetears made them even more stunning.

"Kara, it's ok. It wasn't you're fault." Cisco says.

"I killed him." She seems dazed. Oliver wonders why she is so upset. Then it occurs to Oliver that Kara isn't him. She hasn't killed. She  
hasn't given into the darkness he knows is inside of her from all the hardships she's endured. He wonders if this guilt will break her. And  
him being so hard on her definitely isn't helping. Kara just shakes her head and says, a little shakily, "Where do we go from here?"

"Kara..." Barry starts.

"I'm fine. Just umm..." she takes a deep breath. "Did you talk to him before..."

Barry glances at Oliver. He seems nervous. Kara is too powerful to not be in the right mental state.

"He didn't say much, just that the man he works for should be feared... especially by you." Oliver delivers the fact calmly, looking at Kara for her reaction. But she barely flinches.

"Me? How does he even know me?"

"Well you were all over the news when we fought the dominators," Barry replies.

Kara just nods. She has composed herself fully now, and she flashes a smile in Barry's direction. "So, I'm like famous on this earth?"

Cisco, Barry, and Caitlyn laugh, obviously not aware that Kara is just putting up a facade to hide her pain. Her cover up was pretty believable, but Oliver knows guilt.

"Don't get too confident, Danvers. We still have a bad guy to catch." Barry says, grinning.

"Right well, Mr. Strategist," she looks at Oliver. "What do we do?"

 

..................

Two weeks later the only lead they had was a man by the name of Chris Rampuzzo who exchanged multiple calls with Maserlo and also met him  
few times at a dive bar called "Beer and Billards" located just outside of Central City. Their stake outs led them to discover that Rampuzzo owned the bar. He was there all hours of the day, and livedabove the business. The guy never left. Kara tried using her X-ray vision to see inside, but the walls were painted with lead paint, blocking her vision. Barry was not used to working this slow, Kara was restless, and Oliver was pretty much out of ideas.

"Alright, so clearly this isn't working." Oliver says one night as they sat on a rooftop across from the bar. "I think our best bet is to break into his apartment on the second floor."

"Remind me again why we didn't do this two weeks ago?" Kara asks, annoyed.

Oliver rolls his eyes. "We can't let this "boss" know that we are trying to locate him. A break in at one of his possible contacts house  
could cause him to go into hiding or change locations."

"Right." She says, not totally convinced. "But why couldn't Barry or I just super-speeded in?"

"Well you wouldn't know what to look for." He replies more harshly then he I tended. "anyways, we'll need a distraction so we can get in  
undetected."

"I can distract him." Barry says.

"Doing what, talking to him about forensic science and other nerd stuff?" Kara asks giggling.  
Oliver smiles slightly, and Kara looks at him triumphantly. "And Oliver is the mayor of Star City and would be recognized in a second. I will distract him."

Barry laughs. "Works for me. Besides, if something goes wrong, you are basically invulnerable."

Kara's face suddenly grows serious. "Yea," she says coldly. "Basically."

When Oliver first met Kara, he didn't realize how many layers she had. She can be sweet, innocent Kara Danvers and strong and brave  
Supergirl, but there are also other sides of her that are not so easily spotted. He got to know her a little better over the last couple weeks, though more from observation then conversation. He  
noticed the pained expression she got every time she saw Barry being chummy with Cisco and Caitlyn, or interacting with Joe and Iris. If he  
had to guess he would say she was thinking about her own family from Krypton and the lack of people in her life that have loved her  
unconditionally. The three of them would talk about their lives during the stake outs, and if the conversation got too personal, Kara would  
slyly change the subject. Really, Oliver thinks, I know nothing about her. He wonders what that recent sudden shift of mood was about. I  
guess it must be hard for people to just assume nothing bad can happen to you, ever. He wonders if she's ever been close to death. The cold  
answer she gave Barry indicates that she has been on the brink of death on multiple occasions.

"Alright, thanks!" Kara's voice brings Oliver back to reality. She hangs up the phone. "Felicity has something for me to wear. How much time will you need?"

"Not long. Maybe 20-30 minutes. We will do a really good search of the apartment. Barry is going to collect figure prints and we will get  
Felicity to help us access his computer and phone."

"Wow. That will be some thorough search." Kara smiles.

"We need to catch this guy." Barry says.

"Well," Kara says, "let's hope this works."

"It will." Oliver says, placing a hand on her shoulder.

...........

 

One hour later Oliver, Barry, and Kara are standing on the rooftop, opposite the bar.

"Remember," Oliver says, looking at Kara. "We should only need a half hour. We'll tell you when we got everything we need."

"Right!" Kara replies. "I don't need this earpiece by the way. But I'm gonna wear it because it makes me feel like a secret agent. Oh and  
tell Felicity that this dress is way too short. I miss my cardigan already."

Barry cracks up, and Oliver rolls his eyes. "Kara stay focused." But he is finding hard to focus with Kara this close to him. She is wearing a very tight and very short red dress with black high heels.  
Oliver can't believe he didn't realize how pretty she was before. Her long blonde hair is curled and framing her face. She is also wearing some black eye makeup that makes her blue eyes even more striking. Oliver is certain she will capture the attention of Rampuzzo, if not  
everyone else in the bar. Too late he realizes he is staring. Kara stares back, questioningly.

"Ummm, Kara? You ready?" Barry asks with a goofy grin.

She looks away, a deep blush on her cheeks. "Yup! I will see you boys in a half hour." She smiles and floats down to the street, tries to  
pull down her dress, and walks into the building. Through the window they see her walk up to the bar and order a drink. Not ten seconds  
later three guys surround her, including Rampuzzo. Felicity thought of the idea to hide a microphone in Kara's dress, so Barry and Oliver  
could hear Rampuzzo. A very husky voice says, "What's your name sweetheart. Haven't seen a girl as pretty as you in this place in  
years." The other men laugh, and Kara replies in a very non-Kara voice, "I'm new to town. My name is Cat."

"That's the signal. Let's go." Barry flashes them into the apartment. Oliver stumbles a little bit.

"Sorry, you ok?" Barry asks.

"I'm fine. Let's move."

They search the apartment, keeping an ear on Kara. Now she is mercilessly flirting. "You know, I don't have many friends, and it gets kind of lonely. Would any of you gentleman care to keep me company sometime?"

"Hey boys, why don't you give kitty cat and I some privacy." One man says.

"Sure puzzo." The other two say, laughing

Rampuzzo whispers, "why don't we uh, head upstairs to my apartment and I can give you that company you're looking for."

"Kara!" Barry says holding the earpiece, "we need more time. I'm still collecting finger prints and DNA. And Felicity and Cisco are still  
working to hack the computer."

"Sorry there's an insanely complicated encryption. It's almost as complicated as the dominator stu... oh my gosh! I think we're dealing with aliens here." Felicity says, panicking.

"Why don't we have a couple drinks first?" Kara says. Then after about 10 seconds, she whispers, "what should I do?"

"Get out of there." Oliver growls.

"I don't think Rampuzzo is an alien." She replies. "I'll keep trying to distract him, we need to catch this guy! but get a move on!"

"Kara!" Oliver says. But Rampuzzo must have come back, because she says,"Thanks. Now where were we?"

"We were about to head up to my place for some fun." Rampuzzo says.

"Why? Wouldn't it be more fun to stay here?"

"Whatever you want sweetheart." Then Kara gasps, and lip smacking can  
be heard, and then something slams onto the table.

Oliver clenches his fist. "Felicity, try pulling up the security cams, is Kara ok?"

"Give me a sec...Ok so, um wow. Rampuzzo has her on a table and they  
are really going at it. Kara keeps trying to break free but Rampuzzo  
isn't moving. Guys hurry up!"

Oliver feels his face flush with anger at her words, but he isn't sure why. "Barry?!"

"One more minute." he says.

"Can't you speed it up?"

"I'm going at fast as I can with being as accurate as possible." Then 20 seconds later, "ok, done."

"Guys," Felicity says, her voice scared. "Rampuzzo's cronies are back. They are all taking Kara into the alley. Oh my gosh!"

They can hear screaming through the earpiece.

"Kara! Fight back you're not in public anymore! Cmon Kara!" Barry says, but it's not Kara's voice that responds.

"Supergirl's powers have been stifled. Come down to the alley now if you want her to live."

Oliver sprints out the window and to the abandoned alley, where he  
sees Kara on the ground, bloody and bruised, with a pair of think black handcuffs around her.

"Ahhh, the green arrow and the flash." Says Rampuzzo.

"What do you want?" Oliver says, bow raised.

"Simply to deliver a message. He will be coming to collect Supergirl in 24 hours. Try to stand against him, and he will kill you and all  
the people you love. He knows who you are under those masks. He sees all. But if you let him take my little kitty cat here," he kicks Kara  
hard, and she screams in pain. "without any resistance. You will all  
be safe."

Barry runs forward but Rampuzzo blasts him with some sort of laser gun, sending Barry flying back 10 feet.

"Nice meeting all of you." He bends down to Kara, and touches her face. "Especially you, sweetheart. You are a glorious kisser." And with that he and his cronies saunter off.

Oliver runs up to Kara. He bends over her and says, "why don't you ever listen to me?" She tries to laugh but ends up coughing up blood.  
"Barry, we need to get her back to star labs.Now!" But Barry is slow to get up. "Barry!" Oliver screams.

Barry finally comes to his senses and jumps up, taking a now unconscious Kara in his arms and speeding her away in a red blur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed:) new chapter coming soon


	5. The Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Kara turn herself in to save the earth-1  
> heroes and their loved ones?

When Oliver arrives back at S.T.A.R labs he finds Kara still unconscious, hooked up to multiple machines, with Caitlyn examining an X-ray.Felicity is furiously typing away and Cisco is working on the black handcuffs that are still on Kara's wrists. He walks over to where she lies and says, "What the hell? Why isn't she healing?" She has a black eye, bruised jaw, cuts all over, and her arm is awkwardly angled, probably broken.

Cisco looks nervous. "These cuffs are stifling her powers. Right now Caitlyn is trying to treat her like a human because I don't think these things are coming off."

Barry appears and says, "whoever wants to take her probably doesn't want her to have her powers when he does."

Cailtyn looks up from her computer. "Three broken bones in her left arm and she's lost a lot of blood, but she will wake up in a few minutes."

As if on cue, Kara stirs and groans. She slowly opens her eyes, finding Barry, Oliver, Cisco and Caitlyn all staring at her. She jumps, looking scared.

"Hey," Oliver says, "easy. You're ok."

"Rampuzzo he..."

"Kara. Calm down....Caitlyn can you and Cisco give us a minute?"

Cisco and Caitlyn leave the room. Barry and Oliver look at each other, not sure how to address what is happening.

"Kara I don't know if you heard Rampuzzo but..." Oliver starts.

"Please I already know what you are going to say." She looks up him, as if exhausted. "And the answer is no. None of you are risking your lives to save me."

"Kara..." Barry says.

"No Barry! If anyone can understand it's you. You were going to do the exact same thing with the dominators."

"And we found another way!"

"You don't understand." She looks down at the handcuffs. "This is kryptonite. It is deadly to me. Even being this close to it is slowly killing me. And you can't fight an alien without me!"

Oliver looks at her incredulously, "We will have to fight without you! We are not under any circumstances letting you sacrifice yourself."

"Well I am not going to let you die for me." Oliver and Kara stare at each other intensely, neither one backing down. He approaches her slowly. "Well its a good thing you can't stop us right now."

"Oliver..." Kara looks desperate now. "I would never forgive myself if something happened to you while you were trying to protect me."

That catches him off guard. He shakes his head. "Don't worry. We can win." He grabs her hand, aware of the warmth spreading to his fingertips, and her thumb slowly circling the back of his hand.Then he let's go as if nothing happened. "You should get some rest."

Barry and Oliver walk away and when they are out of earshot Oliver says,"I want eyes on her at all times. She may not have her powers but that won't stop her from trying to turn herself in. "

Barry nods then asks, "Ollie, What are we going to do? Kara is right, we can't fight aliens without her."

Oliver sighs and says, "We have to. I'm not losing her."

.....................

The team spends the next 12 hours researching and asking Kara questions about aliens and trying to track this guy, whoever he might be. Meanwhile, Kara's condition is worsening, the Kryptonite cuffs causing her what seems like a lot of pain. Every once in a while she groans and silent tears spill from her eyes, but if anyone looks in her direction she smiles as if nothing happened.

"I've got absolutely nothing." Felicity announces. "This alien encryption is too complicated. It's way beyond anything I've ever dealt with before. Maybe we should ask one of Kara's friends from her earth."

"No!" Kara says, trying to sit up.

"What? Why?"

"Because I am not going to have anyone that I love come over here and get themselves killed trying to save me. It's bad enough trying to convince all of you to let me go."

"We agreed!" Oliver yells, angrily.

"I never agreed to anything. And now that you all realize what you're dealing with, I thought you'd be more then willing to sacrifice me to save everyone you care about."

"I thought I made myself clear..."

"That you what, Oliver?" Her voice is rising. "That you are confident you can beat an alien. You don't know what is beyond earth! NONE of you know what life is like on other planets. I DO! you think the dominators were bad? You have no idea! I've fought aliens on slavers moon, where they were selling humans as slaves. I've fought kryptonians who put my entire city under mind control. I've fought white martians who slaughtered an entire race of aliens and will keep slaughtering others because no one cares enough to stop them! Aliens  
are not like humans or metas! You cannot beat them! Most do not have morals or values. They only want power. I couldn't live with myself is  
something happened to you, any of you. Please..." Everyone is speechless. No one moves or makes a sound. And then Kara collapses onto the bed, and Caitlyn and Barry run over to her.

"She fainted." Caitlyn says.

"Is she going to be ok?" Cisco asks.

"It seems the kryptonite is spreading from her arms, throughout her body. And if it reaches her heart..."

"She dies." Oliver finishes. "Clearly we aren't getting anywhere. Is there someplace we can keep Kara that this guy can't break into."

"Oliver..."

"What Felicity?" He asks harshly.

"What if we can't save her? Did you just hear what she said?"

"We... we have to save her. Barry?"

Barry looks like he's about to lose it. "Kara is going to die. And it's all my fault."

"No!" Oliver says. "I'm not giving up!" No one says anything, so he continues. "The Kryptonite won't kill Kara, this guy wouldn't go through all this trouble just so she could die before he gets here. So we have time. And I would bet he has the key to those cuffs. So we get the key, then Kara can help us fight him, right?"

"But what if she doesn't fight?" Cisco asks.

"She will." But as the words come out of his mouth he realizes he's not so sure. Kara is too selfless and too kind to let others risk their life for her, which just makes Oliver want to protect her more.

................

Barry and Cisco lock up Kara in one of the cells in the particle accelerator. They aren't sure if it will be strong enough to hold up against an alien but it's the best they could do. Kara's words  
continuously circle through Olivers brain: "you think the dominators were bad? ... selling aliens as slaves... only want power... you cannot beat them" Her last outburst was especially frightening. He had never seen Kara look more angry or scared.

"Ollie, do you really think we can save her?" Barry asks.

"We have to try." He replies. "Oh and Barry," he grabs his arm and holds him back, "what's happening to Kara, it isn't your fault."

He looks down. "But I'm the one who called her here! To fight a meta I should have been able to beat myself."

"She came willingly."

"And look where it's gotten her. Beaten up, dying, and about to be taken by some psychopath alien!"

"It's not your fault Barry." Oliver is not the best at comforting others.

Barry nods and walks away, leaving Oliver alone in the particle accelerator, staring at Kara. She is shivering (Caitlyn had said that she had an extremely high fever and she is still wearing the skimpy dress) and it takes everything in him not to open the doors and wrap his arms around her. Her arm is in its makeshift sling, her hands are  
still bonded together by the thick black hand cuffs, she has cuts and bruises and she has a green glow that he assumes is from the  
kryptonite. How did this happen? She is the girl of steel. The indomitable alien who has never felt pain. Or so he thought when he first met Kara. And then Barry told him her story, how she had lost everything, how she was forced to conform to a new society and how she had to hide who she was her whole life. Then Oliver felt he could relate to her. And now, as she lays on the floor of a cell, dying, the green arrow realizes he needs her. He needs her big smile and cute laugh and her big sweaters and love of food. But most of all he need  
the girl who always forgives, always understands, and always sees the best in people. He needs someone like that in his life. He needs her  
light.

 

.............

Hours later, the team is still working, coming up with nothing except for the name of who Gunner was trying to find. Dr. Carl Winslow, who performed extensive research on the theory of the multiverse. Oliver tried talking to the man, but all he said was that he got a message from a man wanting to travel between multiverse right around  
thanksgiving.

"That was right when Kara came to help with the Dominators. That can't be a coincidence." Dig says. But before anyone could respond, loud sirens sound.

 

"An intruder!" Cisco says. He pulls up the cameras. Oliver isn't sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't a 50 or 60 something year old man walking through S.T.A.R labs nonchalantly in a jeans and a button down shirt.

"What the hell? Is this him?" Dig asks.

"I guess we'll find out." Oliver replies. Cisco, Caitlyn and Felicity hurry out of the room, but will be close by if Barry, Oliver and Dig need any help.

The elevator opens and out walks the old man with a big smile. Barry runs at him but he swiftly pushes him to the ground and delivers a punch that knows Barry unconscious. "Hey, hey, hey put the bow down." He says to Oliver, walking towards him."I only want my precious Supergirl and then I will be on my way."

"She isn't here." Oliver growls.

"Oh yes she is. She is in that particle accelerator which you use as a prison that holds all the metas Barry Allen, excuse me, the Flash has captured." Oliver looks at Barry. The alien continues, "Oh yes I know who you are. John Diggle and... Oliver Queen, I have to say your mind is quite complex and it's one of the hardest I've read. You need to  
let go of some of that guilt. Alright, well, if we are done here I will be on my way." He starts to walk away when Oliver shoots. In a blink of an eye the alien is standing right in front of him holding  
his arrow in his hand. "Bad choice Mr. Queen. You know the consequences." All of sudden he has him in a choke hold and they are in front of Kara's cell. "Awww, she looks so peaceful. And as beautiful as ever!" He opens the cell door and Kara slowly wakes up. She is weak, and looks like she is struggling to breathe. "Oh my sweet, sweet Supergirl! We need to get those kryptonite cuffs off of you at once, you don't have very much time left."

"Oliver..." Kara mumbles weakly. Oliver struggles but can't break loose, the alien is too strong.

The alien approaches Kara, holding Oliver with one hand, and rips off the handcuffs with another. The effect on Kara is almost immediate. Her face flushes with color and her arm mends. The scars close up until they are gone completely. She stands up.

"That's better!"

"Who are you?"

"Oh Supergirl, I thought you would have recognized me. Although, we haven't seen each other since we were children, making sculptures from my brothers scrap metal and stealing the cakes from the bakery "

"No..." she looks stunned.

"Oh yes Kara Zor-El. "

"But how? How did you escape..."

"You think your family was the only one with access to pods? You may have been the 'princess' of krypton Karrie, but there were also nobles who shared your mothers power."

"Jasson..."

"I know, I know. I'm so old. But you my dear, are as pretty as you were all those years ago. Unfortunately my pod was not stuck in space  
for 20 years, so I am an old man. However, I think the arrangement our parents made still stands."

"You're insane."

"No, Karrie. You will be my wife. "

She flies at him but her punch is blocked. "I will not..." She is thrown aside. On the ground she tries using her heat vision but the  
alien she called Jasson matches it with his own.

"You will come with me without fighting or I will kill Oliver Queen."

"No! Leave him out of this."

"Oh Karrie, you know I won't hesitate." He tightens his grip on Oliver. He can't breathe, his face is turning purple. "It doesn't have to be this way."

"Please..."

"Come with me and he will live."

"Kara... don't" Oliver gasps.

"Quiet!"

"Oliver, tell my family I love them."

"No!" Oliver tries to say.

"Please." She gets up an walks toward them.

"There's a good girl," Jasson releases Oliver and throws him to the side. He takes Kara's hand and before Oliver could get up, they were   
gone. And once again, he was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed:)


	6. Crimson Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They haven't heard from Supergirl in months. Is she dead? Or has she simply embraced a new side of herself?

They haven't heard from Kara since. The first couple of days after she was taken were the worst for Oliver. He was so overcome with guilt he could barely breathe. But he put on a brave face, because he knew if he grieved, no one else would get to. After about or week of searching endlessly, day and night, for her, they decided they needed to tell her family from earth-38. Barry and Cisco vibes there and told them, which Oliver is sure was an impossible conversation. But much like  
Kara, her friends didn't give up hope that wherever she was, she was alive. They came over to Earth-1 as often as they could to help. But  
after 6 months of nothing, they finally started to face reality. J'onn Jonzz and Kara's sister Alex were the first to realize that she wasn't coming back. Oliver witnessed Alex completely break down, sobbing, and he knew this was his fault. He was the reason she lost her sister. Winn and James, however, kept trying for another month and a half, before they too gave up. They both clearly loved Kara so much.

That was three moths ago, when the last of her friends and family gave up. Oliver walks into his apartment after a long night of chasing  
criminals to find Barry and Cisco waiting for him.

"Hey Ollie"Barry says.

"What are you guys doing here. Something I can help you with?"

"We ummm," Cisco starts, "Well, we haven't heard from Kara's friends and family in a while and we were going to go check up on them to make  
sure everything is ok."

"And?"

"We want you to come with us."

"I'm sure I'm the last person they want to see." Oliver replies remembering how James Oleson had punched him in the face last year, after learning that the reason Kara had gone with Jasson to save him.

"Ollie come with us."

"Barry..."

"Cmon Oliver." Cisco says. "They need you to be there, supporting them."

Because Oliver knows he's right, he agrees to go with them. So the three heroes open a breech and travel to earth-38, where they appear in the middle of the abandoned room where the 'super friends' used to work out of.

Barry looks around, full of memories, takes a deep breath and says, "Let's go find Alex." But she isnt her apartment. And Winn and James weren't at  
home or at Catco. It wasn't until they got to the DEO that they learned what happened.

After going through all sorts of protocall one of the agents recognized Barry from the last time he came. She pulls them aside and says, "It isn't safe for you here."

"What's going on? Where are Alex and J'onn?" Barry asks

"You don't know?" She sighs when they shake their heads." They were killed 2 months ago."

"Killed? By who?" Cisco asks.

"Supergirl," the agent replies, "she's gone rogue. She and a male killed Agent Danvers, Director Henshaw, Winslow Schott, and James Oleson all in one night. It was devastating. Now she's been causing chaos and destruction all over the world. The two are unstoppable, even Superman can't beat them."

Oliver doesn't believe what he just heard. There's no way she killed her friends and family. She couldn't have. They must be mistaken. It could be a doppelgänger.

"What? I.... I don't understand."

"Neither do we. You really should leave Mr. Allen." Then she walks away.

................

When they get back to Earth-1 and S.T.A.R labs, Barry crouches down and starts crying. Cisco bends down trying to comfort him. Oliver just  
stands there, still trying to comprehend what's happening. He looks up at the supergirl suit, enclosed in a case.

"Kara..."he says after awhile. "She would never do that!"

Barry looks up at him. "Mind control. It's happened to her before."

"Well, we can stop her."

"Oliver, Superman can't even stop her! And he's got her same powers!" Cisco says.

"I don't care!" Oliver yells. "We are getting her back! The reason this happened was because Kara sacrificed herself to protect me! I need to prove I was worth saving."

Barry gets up and embraces Oliver in a hug. "It's not any of our faults."

"You're right." Oliver steps back. "It's just one man's fault. And I swear to God I'm gonna kill him."

....................

The next couple of weeks Oliver doesn't sleep. He spends all his time trying to find anything that could help them find and stop Kara. He even takes a temporary leave being mayor, having Thea do most of his work for him.

One night in the 'Arrow Cave', Felicity approaches him and says, "I've been worried about you, Oliver."

"I've just got a lot of stuff on my mind."

"Like Kara?" Oliver looks up at her questioningly. "Barry told me." He sighs. He asked Barry and Cisco not to tell Felicity or Dig. He wanted  
to keep them out of this, knowing how powerful Supergirl is. "Why didn't you tell me? I can help!"

"No! Felicity... I can't... guarantee your safety."

"When have you ever been able to guarantee my safety?"

"Kara is too powerful right now! She killed her whole family! Shewon't hesitate to kill us too!"

"Oliver..."

"What?"

"Why is it so important for you to help her?"

"Because she needs to be stopped! She is causing pain and destruction on her earth, and now on other earths, too." A couple days ago Barry had gotten a message from Harrison Wells on Earth-2 that Supergirl and a man had attacked the capital building.

"But, why is it so important that YOU stop her."

"I... I blame myself."

"And?"

"Felicity...."

"Say it."

"I care about her....a lot."

"Ok." She takes a deep breath."I think the first thing we need to do is..."

"Felicity..."

"I told you. I'm helping. Like I said, you've been going about this all wrong. Instead of trying to find her, you need to call her to you."

"How?"

"Well I'd bet she still has Ciscos interdimensional extrapalator right? So we contact her, and if she's really gone off the rails, don't you think she will want to pay us a visit?"

"Thank you."

"I will always be here for you, Oliver. " he nods, and she continues. "But there's one more thing. If somehow we defeat them, and we break Kara from her mind control, after what she's done, she will never be the same."

 

.........................

They put their plan into action two days later. Felicity's idea works well. Cisco signals for Kara using the interdimensional extrapalator. According to Cisco, she never responded, but she got the message. And after three hours of waiting a breech opens in S.T.A.R labs. Out walks Kara. She has on a tight black leather jumpsuit, with tall black boots. A red mask covers her eyes, and her hair is down and pin straight. On the corner of her suit is a strange looking red "R". Oliver stands with his bow up, with Barry, Dig, Cisco and even Caitlyn behind him.

She laughs. "Well if it isn't the heroes of Earth-1."

"Kara," Barry says. "I know you're in there."

"Quiet Flash!" She snaps. "I'm no longer Kara Zor-el. She was weak. She let others manipulate her and she cared too much about humans."  
She says bitterly. "I've been transformed. I am Crimson Demon."

"Kara, this isn't you." Barry tries.

"I'm more me then I've ever been!"

"You can fight this!"

"What is there to fight, Barry? I am finally free." She walks towards them slowly. "I am free of being a hero and all the pain and suffering that comes with it! I am free of a sister who always tried to control me, friends who never understood me, and most importantly... I'm free of love."

"Love is what makes us who we are." Caitlyn says.

"Love IS WEAKNESS. And I am NOT weak!" She flies over to Caitlyn and punches her in the face, knocking her out. Dig tries shooting, but the  
bullets ricochet of her. She throws Dig to the side. Barry manages to run around her to distract her for a second, but before Cisco or Oliver could shoot, Kara uses her freeze breath on Barry, who now is stuck in ice. Cisco opens a portal, jumps through, and goes to the other side, shooting Kara in the back, but again there is no effect on her. Meanwhile Oliver shoots arrow after arrow. When Kara catches one she breaks it in half and laughs. "I guess you aren't as smart as I thought, Ollie. " Barry has managed to escape the ice and flashes  
Cisco and Oliver away from Kara. Just then another breech opens, and the man who took Kara comes through. He is wearing a similar get-up to her, with the same odd shaped "R".

"Oliver Queen, we meet again." He says, with a smile. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Jasson Marth, of the house Ran. And I  
believe you all know my wife. Hey sweetie, why don't you let the men and I talk for a bit." Kara leaves the room without a word.

"What did you do to her?"Barry asks.

"Oh Mr.Allen, I think you know."

"Red kryptonite." Barry says.

"Very good, yes, yes it was a version of red kryptonite that makes all of her anger come to surface, along with making her susceptible to suggestion."

"Why?" Oliver asks.

"Kara and I were best friends on krypton. Our parents had arranged for us to be married for political reasons, being from the two most  
powerful houses. Arranged marriages were quite common on krypton. But when the planet was dying, my parents sent me away, just like Kara's.  
I landed on a planet called Vanxer where I grew up and learned how to control my powers that I got from the planets yellow sun. Then I knew  
I had to find Kara. So I travelled to earth, but little did i know I was on the wrong earth. I searched all over for her, and there was no sign she was even alive until when I saw her flying around saving your earth from the dominators. I tried to find a way to travel between worlds, until I decided it would be easier to have you call her here."

"Why are you doing this to her? It wasn't enough to kidnap her, you needed to control her, too?"

"Well I hadn't planned on it. But she wouldn't stop trying to escape. Even after torture! She never gives up, that one. "

"You're insane! What are you hoping to accomplish?"

"Watch yourself, Mr. Queen. You forget that I know everything about you, including who you love. And as far as my goals, that's for me to  
know and you to find out. Now I will just take my wife and we will get back to our business. "Sweetheart!" He calls. Kara saunters in. "Let's  
get out of here, my love."

"Of course, master." She uses her extrapalator to open a breech. But before they could step through, Cisco blasts it and it closes.

Kara and Jasson step back. While they are caught of guard, Barry runs to Jasson and starts running around him, then throws lightening at  
him. Jasson is thrown back against the wall. Cisco takes that opportunity to put the special handcuffs he made on Jasson. He got the kryptonite from Alex and J'onn a couple months ago, and Cisco has been making weapons to use against the aliens.

"Karrie a little help here!"

Kara tries using her heat vision on the cuffs, but it doesn't work. She flies towards Jasson, but Barry runs Jasson down to the particle accelerator as planned. Kara flies through the wall and follows Barry. When she gets down to the cell, a man stands in front of the cell.

"Superman....I should've known you would be a part of this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed:) new chapters coming very soon! Please leave comments with feedback and suggestions!


	7. Super Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crimson Demon is ruthless and out of control. The Earth-1 heros need all the help they can get.

"Kara, you're stronger then this."

"Funny, you never thought I was strong enough before."

Oliver, Barry, and the others watch from the cortex on the cameras. Superman wouldn't let them help with this part of their plan. 

"What?"

"You never viewed me as an equal. I was always your less experienced cousin who still had 'a lot to learn'! I was always second to Superman, just your pretty blonde sidekick." She spits.

"Kara, you know that's not true."

"Of course it's not true! Because you know and I know that I am just as powerful as you. And you felt threatened by me, which is why you didn't train me, why you abandoned me as a kid."

"Kara, I...."

"YOU LEFT ME ALONE!" She screams. "On a new planet, with a family of worthless humans."

"I was doing what was best for you." Superman is unnerved.

"Oh save the act."she sneers. "You did what was best for you."

"Supergirl you're still in there, you can fight this!"

"Supergirl is gone. "She laughs. "And she is NEVER coming back."

"I don't want to hurt you, Kara. "

"You can try, cousin."

Barry looks at Oliver, fear in his eyes. "It's ok." Oliver says. "The plan will work."

Superman flies out of S.T.A.R. Labs with Supergirl close on his heels. They hover above the lot. Kara flies at Superman, but he swerves out of the way. She tries using her heat vision, but he matches it with her own. Barry flashes Oliver down to where they are, but they try to stay out of her view. Next Kara grabs one of the vans and throws it at Superman, and he punches through it, but Kara comes barreling at him while he is momentarily occupied, and she punches him hard. He flies to the ground, and before he can get up, she punches him again and again and again. She winds up another punch but Superman sweepkicks her and she falls to the ground. But she is quick to get up, and she starts running around Superman fast. The wind picks up and a type of tornado forms. It envelopes Superman, but he manages to break free from the powerful vortex of air, but the Supergirl continues to run until the tornado starts moving. Straight towards downtown central city. 

"My master taught me some new tricks! So cousin," she laughs curtly. "Will it be me or the city?"

Barry takes off for the city, but Superman stays put. "You forget I have friends in my side."

"Actually, I was counting on it." Before Oliver even realizes what's happening, Kara has him in a chokehold, and just like before, he is a bargaining tool. "You see, I knew I would need to get the flash out of the way to have a chance. " she tightens her grip on Olivers neck.

"Kara, don't do this."

"You are going to release my master and never bother us again."

"I can't do that." Superman answers.

"Then your pal here, is going to die." Oliver can feel her breath on his neck. 

"Kara this isn't you!" Clarke seems desperate, unsure what to do. He knows he can't let Kara and Jasson run rampant on the multiverse, but he also knows Kara won't hesitate to kill Oliver.

"You are Jasson's slave! Why would you want to free him?" Clarke is trying to stall until help can come. C'mon Cisco, Oliver is thinking.

"He is my husband."

"Yet you call him master."

"I owe him everything. He saved me, made me stronger, took away my pain."

"He is using you!"

"Yea, well, I'm used to it. People have been using me my whole life. At least Jasson accepts me for who I am."

"And who is that?"

"Crimson Demon." She says the last part dramatically, before tightening her grip on Olivers neck even more. "So what's it gonna be, Superman?"

Suddenly Kara lurches forward, releasing Oliver. He turns to find Cisco standing behind her, with one of his special weapons in his hands. Cisco tosses the kryptonite cuffs to Superman and he flies over to Kara and places them around her wrists. "It didn't have to be this way Kara."he says leaning over her,

She spits at his face. "I hate you! I hate you! You ruined my life!" She keeps screaming and cursing until Cisco plunges a syringe into her neck. 

Just then Barry returns. "Everyone ok?" 

Superman nods. "Take her to the cell." Barry disappears in a red streak, and Cisco walks away, but Oliver stays behind. Clarke looks distraught. Oliver doesn't know how to comfort him, so he just stands silently.

"You know what the worst part about this is?" Clarke says after a minute. He looks at Oliver, who shakes his head. "All this anger was already inside of her. Those thoughts already existed, in the deepest parts of her. She really believes everything she just said."

"That wasn't her."

"But it is. Every bad thought she's ever had has come rushing to the surface. And Kara, who's endured so much suffering and so much loss, can't fight the anger. She is warring within herself and Crimson Demon is winning. Winning because the rage silences the pain."

"We can fix her." 

"And when we do, she will still have the memory of everything she's done."

Oliver doesn't know how to respond to that. He knows deep down that she will never be whole again, she will never be who she was. She will have no family, no home. He realizes what Superman is thinking before he asks it. 

"Can we really condemn her to that? Can we wake her up from this nightmare to an even greater one?"

Oliver shakes his head and replies sullenly, "If we don't, what will we do? Leave her rotting in a cell for the rest of her life?"

"I... I don't know."

Suddenly Oliver is angry. "We can't do that to her! We need to free her from this mind control and have hope that she will recover."

"And if she doesn't?"

Oliver knows Superman isn't emotionally stable right now, so he lies and says, "She will."

..............

Kara wakes up in the particle accelerator two hours later, with Oliver staring back at her. She laughs and says, "Here to keep an eye on me?" He doesn't respond. She continues,"Where's my cousin? Did he bale already? He tends to do that."

"What do you and your master have planned?" Oliver asks.

She smirks. "The great Oliver Queen. Brooding and miserable as always. "

"What do you have planned?" He asks again.

"You know it's funny. Everyone looks up to you. 'The Green Arrow'. The brave hero. I even admired you. For all your sacrifices. But now I know the truth. You nothing but a rich playboy turned egotistical coward. "

"Why were you traveling the multiverse?"

"How does it feel to be absolutely worthless? You couldn't help with the dominators. You couldn't help stop Jasson or me. Do you ever just want to stop trying? Stop trying to be a hero in a world where there are metas and aliens? "

"You will talk eventually. Or I can make you talk."

"See that's the beauty of it." She laughs. "I will never give in, and you can't make me. Because we both know that if I didn't have these cuffs on I could crush you with my bare hands. I could kill you, and you wouldn't even have time to scream. But your too soft to even try to hurt me."

"Don't overestimate my character." Oliver growls.

Kara just laughs. "You are pathetic. And besides, these cuffs will kill me eventually. So either I talk and I die, or I don't tell you anything, and I die. Which one would you choose?"

"Why target the capital building on earth-2?"

Kara smirks and approaches the glass. "You are relentless." She laughs. "Let me tell you what's going to happen. You and your friends are going to question us and we aren't going to give up anything. We're going to start to die and you will take these cuffs off of me because you all care too much about the person I used to be. Then I'm going to murder all of you. But don't worry, I'll make it quick." 

Oliver walks out of the room. He waits until he gets back up to the cortex to grunt in frustration.

Felicity walks over and says, "are you ok?"

He doesn't answer. Instead he asks Caitlyn, "What has Superman got on curing her?"

"Last time they used a device made by Maxwell Lord that was able to counteract the effects of the red kryptonite. But well... it was destroyed."

"What about this Lord guy? Can he help?"

"Clarke said that he might be willing to help but he's...difficult, whatever that means."

"Alright it's worth a try. Cisco?"

Cisco opens the portal, and he and Barry step through. But before Oliver leaves he asks Cailtyn, "How much time?"

Cailtyn looks at him sadly. "Two maybe three days. She's better at masking the pain this time around but the kryptonite is already spreading, and soon, she will die."

...............

"Let me get this right, your from a different universe and you want to help Supergirl, who, just murdered her family and hurt innocent civilians?" Barry exchanges a look with Oliver, surprised. "Yes I know that Kara Danvers is Supergirl. She obviously has been effected by the red kryptonite again." 

Maxwell Lord has an annoying smirk on his face that makes Oliver want to punch him. "Glad to see your finding humor in the situation." He growls.

"Oh, I find no humor in the past events. I was quite fond of the Danvers sisters. But what is happening to Kara just proves what I said from the moment she saved that damn plane. Someone with that much power can't be trusted. And we can't rely on aliens to solve every problem."

"How did you cure her last time?" Barry asks.

"I made a device that reversed the effects."

"Can you replicate it?"

"Maybe."

"Ok lets do it."

"Look, I know she's your friend, but I think it would be better for you and the whole multiverse if..."

"We aren't killing her." Oliver says. Lord nods and he, Barry and Cisco get to work.

Oliver doesn't know what to do, so he leaves the room to get some air. Kara's words play over and over again in his head: "How does it feel to be absolutely worthless?" Oliver has been feeling pretty useless for a while now, especially the past few months. How can he fight metas and aliens? The truth is, he can't. Not without help. So far he has been used as a bargaining tool that made Kara surrender to Jasson and then again to make Clarke let Kara go. And the only reason she isn't out destroying the universe as Crimson Demon is because Cisco saved him. He takes a deep breath and clears his head. He can't let this stuff get to him. Right now, he needs to focus on saving Kara, even though he can't.  
.......................

The next day, Kara is strapped down to a table in the Cortex. She is pale and sweaty, but she is shivering. And Oliver can see the krypton spreading in green veins. Caitlyn sedated her, because she definitely didn't come easy. Some sort of contraption is hooked up to her, which according to Maxwell Lord will suck all the red kryptonite from her system. 

"Lord said it will take some time, but I gave her a strong sedative so she won't wake up before it all left her system" Caitlyn says.

There seems to be a heaviness in the room. Everyone, Cisco, Barry, Cailtyn, Oliver, Felicity, and Dig all just stare at Kara. Barry shakes his head, "How are we going to tell her...."

No one responds. Then Oliver says grimly, "according to Clarke, we won't need to tell her. She will remember every second of it."

"Oh my God." Felicity says.

Barry sits down and takes a deep breath. "How do we... I mean, what are we going to..."

Oliver looks down and says, "I don't know."

..........................

Three hours later, Kara stirs. All six of them rush over to the table. Kara slowly opens her eyes. She looks up at all of them. "What? What happened..." she groans weakly. 

Barry says. "How do you feel?"

"What am I doing here?"

"You were affected with red kryptonite." 

"Oh, did I do anything..." Suddenly she jumps up, as if it suddenly dawned on her. "No. No! No!" She rips the tubes from her arm and says, "No! Please tell me this isn't real!" 

"Kara, it's ok" Oliver says, calmly. 

"What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?" Kara screams. Sobs rack her body. She crouches down on the floor, shaking. "Alex. Alex and Hank and Winn and James! They're alive. They have to be alive." She gets up and starts pacing, tears still running down her face. "I... I couldn't have killed them. Right Oliver? Please tell me I'm right!"

"Kara just sit down. " Oliver tries to approach her.

"Oh my God. I... I killed them! " she stumbles back. "What have I done?! They... they can't be.... gone." She screams and starts to sob again. Oliver feels tears sting at the back of his eyes. He looks around and sees Felicity and Cailtyn crying and even Dig looking away. Oliver has seen a lot of awful things in his life, but this has to be the most heartbreaking. To know that you killed all of your loved ones, he can't imagine what that's like.

She has her hands over her ears, as if trying to block it out. "It hurts! It hurts! Make it stop! Make it STOP!"

Barry is now standing next to Kara. 

"Kara?" He says softly.

She is still crying so hard, she barely noticed when Barry raps her up in a big hug. Then she collapses and Barry catches her. Oliver sees the syringe in Barry's hand. Barry carries her back to the table as tears fall from his eyes. He looks up at Oliver. "Will she ever recover?" 

He doesn't answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! New chapters coming soon:)


	8. Talking vs Killing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara is cured, but that doesn't mean she's herself. Can Oliver talk her out of doing the one thing that may ultimately break her?

For the next two days, there would be a never ending cycle of Kara waking up, crying,screaming, refusing to eat, and having to be sedated. Barry and Oliver take turns keeping watch, with everyone else getting some much needed rest. Clark is stuck on earth-38 with some kind of emergency, but promised he would be there soon.

When she wakes up after the fifth time, there are no tears. "I want to go home." She says. Her voice is hoarse and shaky.

Oliver walks over to the table and takes her hand. "Kara, you can't." He replies. He means to sound gentle, but it comes out sharp. She wriggles her hand from his and tries to get up. "Hey, take it easy. Do you want some water?"

"I want to go home." Kara repeats.

"Look, Kara..."

"You don't need to remind me of what I did! But that was Supergirl. I still have a life as Kara. I... I have a job and.... nothing else." She says as if it finally completely struck her. "I have nothing. I  
have no friends, no family. And now I have no home. I..." tears start to run down her face again.

Oliver hesitates, then embraces her in a hug. "You'll be ok."

"Where will I go?" She mumbles into his shoulder.

"You'll stay here. On earth-1."

Kara pulls back and wipes her eyes. Beautiful, bright blue. "I can't. I can't impose... and I don't want to..."

Oliver just shakes his head. "Kara, it's already been decided. You're staying here."

"Oliver, I'm really really sorry. I didn't mean anything and I..."

"Don't apologize. It wasn't you."

"But it was. I remember everything. Every bad thought I've ever had just came rushing to the surface and... Jasson!" She says suddenly. "Where is he?"

"He's in the particle accelerator." Kara gets up, but she is dizzy from the lack of food and water and falls. Oliver catches her and asks, "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna kill him."

"What?"

"He did this to me! He ruined my life! He made me Crimson Demon, made me kill every single person I loved!"

Oliver doesn't know what to do. He knows the urge to kill. He wants to kill Jasson too, for everything he's done to her. But she is unstable and about to kill their only source of information. And he also knows that killing another person won't help her in the slightest, it might  
plunge her deeper into the darkness. But even weak, Kara could knock him out. He decided to do the only thing he can before Barry comes back in a few minutes when they had scheduled to change shifts, keep her talking.

"What happened in the first couple of months he took you?"

She looks away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That's understandable, but I've learned that talking helps."

Kara sighs. "Ummm ok. So he took me to this underground facility. I don't know where it is exactly, but definitely in the middle of nowhere. The first couple of weeks were the worst. He kept trying to get me to do... things. Like he would bring me children to murder, and when I wouldn't do it, he would... torture me. He had some favorites: electricity, a kryptonite sword, and there was this machine that would use my own powers against me. He also liked branding." She pulls down her shirt a little bit, to show some burn marks on her collar bone. "My body couldn't keep healing me. I tried to escape, but he has a lot  
of followers. Every time I did the punishments got worse. I don't know, I guess eventually they found the red kryptonite and I became Crimson Demon." Oliver remains quiet. "So now you know," she continues. "Why I have to do this. I have to kill him." She gets up.

"This isn't the way."

"I thought if anyone could understand it would be you Oliver!" He winces. "I'm sorry," Kara says, "I didn't mean it like that."

"Yes you did." Oliver tries to calm down but he can feel that anger, that darkness, rising in him. "I've killed Kara! I've killed plenty! And for a time, I found myself liking it! But if you think murdering  
Jason will make you feel better, it won't!" He's yelling now. "I know what you're feeling! I get it, believe me, I do. But if you walk out that door, and you kill him, it might feel good at first, hell it will feel great! but then you will regret it. You will regret it for the rest of your life because that's who you are Kara. Don't sink to his level!" He takes a deep breath, and looks at her.

"I already have, Oliver." She whispers. "I'm a murder, just like him. I'm a killer and a villain and a... monster. I'm a monster."

Oliver walks up to her and hugs her again saying, "Kara Danvers, you are a lot of things, but a monster is not one of them." Her crystal  
eyes look into his. They are close, he wants to be closer. He can't think straight with her looking at him like that. Not with sadness or pity or anger. Not like everyone else in his life looks at him. She is looking at him with with complete trust and understanding. Like what he's saying to her actually helps, like his words mean something.

Suddenly, someone clears their throat. "Hey guys, sorry to interrupt but umm, something happened and I need to speak to Oliver." Barry says.

"What's the problem?" Kara asks.

"Oliver can I talk to you?"

"What happened Barry?"

"Kara, you need to rest..."

"Tell me what happened."

"It's Jasson. He escaped."

 

......................

 

Kara and Barry went to search the city, while Oliver and the Tech team stayed back to try to track Jasson. Barry and Oliver suggested that  
Kara sit this one out, but she refused.

"Ok so he can't have gone far. The handcuffs weakened him, and Kara didn't start to get her full powers back until hours later." Felicity says.

"We can't underestimate him." Oliver states sharply. "Do you know how he escaped?"

"Security footage shows that he just broke the cuffs and then punched through the door. I guess our prison isn't exactly equipped to hold aliens." Replies Cisco.

"Then why did he wait so long to escape if the cuffs didn't work... oh!" Felicity exclaims. "I'm so stupid! Why didn't I see it before?"

"What?"

"Think about their capture. Why didn't he fight back?"

"They did! Kara practically destroyed Central City!" Oliver says.

"But why didn't HE fight back?" Felicity repeats.

It finally dawns on Oliver. "He wanted them to get caught. He knew that without him fighting, Clark could beat her. He wanted us to cure her."

"Why? Why would he turn her if all he wanted to do in the end is turn her back?" Cisco asks.

"To make me suffer." Everyone jumps. Kara appeared so soundlessly. "And because he is a deranged lunatic who's only goal is to cause  
people pain." Her voice is flat when she says, "Now can I kill him Oliver?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed:) sorry this one was a bit shorter but a new chapter is coming very soon!


	9. Secrets and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver thinks Kara is hiding something, is he just paranoid?

Oliver is smart. He knows he is. He's been able to get himself and his team out of some tough situations using his wits. But he can't figure out Jasson, and it's frustrating. What are his plans? Why let himself and Kara get caught? Was it really just to cause her pain? He looks over at Kara. She's pacing back and forth in the Cortex, her eyes frantically moving around the room. Is she hiding something?

"Kara, is there anything you can remember about where you were kept prisoner?" Oliver asks.

She stops pacing and closes her eyes. "My cell was made of rock and it was... cold. Very cold."

"This may seem tedious but we need details, even if they don't seem important. So just, try to remember everything." Felicity says softly.

"Right." She nods, then continues, "My cell was made of rock, but it was really shiny and smooth and had a blue tint. It didn't seem natural. But I could carve into it pretty easily, even when my strength was weak."

"Carve into it?" Felicity asks.

"I had to pass the time somehow. " she gives her a strained smile. "Anyway, in the cell there was a small cot, a pillow, and a toilet. The door to the cell was really large. It looked like it was made of steel or something. There was a small slot that they would pass food and water through. There was a bigger slot, but then one time I managed to get my hand through to open the door, so they made it smaller. "

"When you did try to escape, did you ever see out a window or discover anything about the location?"

"I never got far, and there were no windows, but once I did see sand on the ground. The floors were made of white tile so I'm almost certain it was sand."

"So a mountain cave thing underground in a dessert?" Cisco offers. 

"Is there anything else you can remember? Anything a guard said that would give us a clue?" Oliver doesn't want to bring up any bad memories, but he's becoming more and more nervous about Jasson and what he's capable of.

"The guards couldn't talk?"

"What?"

"Their tongues were ripped out."

Everyone is silent. Oliver can only imagine the cruel, twisted things he did to Kara. He looks over at her again, and is startled when he finds her staring directly at him as if to say, 'please don't make me do this.'

Finally Cisco speaks up, "So we're dealing with President Snow and his avoxes now?"

Kara looks away from Oliver and says, "I think the guards were under some kind of mind control."

"Were you ever taken from your cell to a different place in the compound?" Felicity asks. 

Kara takes a deep breath. "There was this... machine room, I guess you could call it."

"Machine room?" Felicity questions. Oliver shoots her a warning look. "Oh... I mean... never mind."

"They would knock me out before taking me there."

"What about after you were... changed? Did Jasson ever take you back there?"

"No. I guess his plan all along was to have my mind control broken and he didn't want me to know where his lair was."

"Is there anything else..." Felicity presses but Kara cuts her off and yells. 

"Felicity, please! Look I'm sorry that I was a little too busy being tortured to notice any 'details', but I can't remember anything else!" All of sudden she turns around and punches the wall, making a very large dent and causing part of the concert to crumble. She stumbles back and looks at her hand with wide eyes. Then she closes her eyes and starts taking deep breaths. Oliver notices her fists clenched tightly at her sides. "I... I'm sorry." 

"It's ok, Kara." Felicity takes a step forward, but Kara opens her eyes and backs away. 

"No, no don't come any closer."

"We can help you."

"Get away from me!"

"Just take a deep breath." Oliver says. He tries to walk towards her but she keeps backing away. Her eyes are wide with fear. 

"It's happening again!" Then she groans and hunches over in pain.

"What? What?!" 

"I have to leave. "

"No, Kara. Stop!"

"Thank you! All of you. But I can't let you get dragged into this. This is my mess."

"What are you taking about?" Oliver yells. He can't lose her again. 

"There's... there's something I haven't told you. I have to finish this on my own."

Oliver runs up to her and grabs her arm before she can't walk out the door. She looks up at him.

"Oliver, let go."

"No! Not until you tell me what the hell is happening!"

"I can't." She crying. "Let go of me, please." It's not so much an order this time, more of a pleading whisper. 

"What are you hiding? Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"You don't understand. This is bigger then you, bigger then me. It's him. He orchestrated this whole thing."

"Jasson, yea we know."

"No, not Jasson." She takes a deep breath. "Mon-El."

 

...........................  
"Mon-El?!" Barry demands. "The same Mon-El who helped us with the Music Meister thing?"

"That's the one."

"But how? I mean, what happened?"

Kara grimaces again, and holds her stomach. 

"Woah, Kara. Sit down." Oliver says. She starts to walk over to the chair, but her legs give out. Oliver scoops her and carries her to the table.

"Thanks." She squeezes his hand. Then says, "Its a long story."

"First," Caitlyn says, "tell us what's causing you pain now. "

She starts to pull off her t-shirt. 

"Kara what are you doing?" Felicity asks. 

"Relax, I have a sports bra on." She pulls the shirt off and Olivers jaw drops. All over her torso are scars and burns. On her chest there is a large, strange looking R branded into her skin. Then she turns around. On her back the letter M is branded. Surrounding the M is a circle that is glowing red. "The R is for Jasson's house, the M is for Mon-El's. " 

"I...I don't understand. Why didn't these heal?" Barry asks.

"It's that glowing red stuff. It's called cintreno. It basically stops my body from healing but let's me keep my powers. And just now, the M burned, meaning Mon-El is trying to summon me."

"What? Why? Please explain to us what's happening."

She takes another deep breath. "Ok. I guess we'll start with how I met Mon-El. We had just saved the city from Myriad when a pod came, and he was in it. I took him to the DEO and he was in a coma for a while. When he finally woke up, he told me that he was a servant to the prince on Daxam, but the prince helped him escape Daxam."

"Escape?"

"Krypton's destruction rained down on the planet, fire, storms, debris. Anyway, Kryptonians and Daxamites hated each other. They're planet was full of slavers and murders and the royal family were the worst. They enable all of the pain that their people felt. The prince actually had people kill each other for entertainment. "

"Yup, definitely the Hunger Games." Cisco says. 

"But I grew to trust Mon-El. I trained him to be a hero. Then we became friends, more then friends. We were together and I... I loved him. But then I found out that he was the Prince of Daxam. He had lied to me for months. Then his supposedly dead parents came down and told him they wanted him to go back to Daxam to rebuild. He said no, but I was so hurt, so I needed things to end. And then I was whammied by the music meister, and he brought us back together. As soon as we got back home, though, he was different. One day he came up to me and said, 'Kara, it's been fun. But now that I have all the intel I need, I really must be going.' Then he walked away, went to his family's ship, and left. I was completely heart broken of course, so when you called for help Cisco I couldn't have been happier."

"Wait, Kara. When did Mon-El leave?"Cisco asks

"The day you called."

"Oh my God, Kar. Why didn't you tell me?" Barry asks.

"Just let her finish the story." Oliver says. Kara shoots him a look of gratitude.

"Right. Well, then all the stuff happened, I was taken and for the first month or two it was just Jasson and his minions and their torture. But then he showed up, Mon-El. I didn't recognize him. He hurt me the worst. He used that machine on me." She starts crying again. "He said he wanted to see me suffer, because of all the suffering my family caused. His plans are simply earth domination. He needs a new planet for his people. And he needed me. He promised Jasson me in return for his help. Jasson, he may be insane and cruel, but he and Mon-El didn't exactly see eye to eye being from krypton and Daxam. So I assume that's why he brought me here, to get caught, to have you cure me. He wants me to kill Mon-El, so he can be the leader. He knows I want to kill both of them, but I want to kill Mon-El more because of what he did to me. He made me Crimson Demon, and told me to kill almost everyone I care about" She pulls her shirt back on, and groans again. "Mon-el is summoning me. I have to go." She starts to get up.

"C'mon Kara! You can't kill him on your own."Oliver says.

"I'm not going to kill him. I'm going to turn myself in."

"No! I'm not letting you leave!"

"I don't have a choice!"

"Look, whatever this burn mark is we can fix it!"

"It's not about that! It's about Eliza!"

"Eliza?"

"My adoptive mom. Mon-El has her."

 

........................

"Were you ever going to tell us?"Oliver asks.

She looks down. "No."

 

"So you were, what? Just going to keep lying until you got your strength back, then take on Mon-el, Jasson, and their army alone?"He asks accusingly. He knows he doesn't have a right to be angry, as someone who has kept secrets before, but he is hurt she didn't trust him enough.

"I... I don't know. But I have to get Eliza back."

"We can help you."

"Please." She starts to cry. "I can't have this argument again. If anything happened to you, any of you, I wouldn't be able to go on. You're the only friends I have left. But Eliza, she's family. And family means no one gets left behind." 

 

"Don't you get it Kara?" Barry asks. "We are not, under any circumstances, letting you do this alone. We'll get her back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed:) I'm sorry these past couple of chapters don't have much action... next chapter will be much more exciting! And I promise some more Kara/Oliver moments are coming. I wanted their relationship to build up over time, and neither of those characters would try to start something after a tragedy or in the middle of a war.


End file.
